Saturday, 5 January 2013

Books Read: Kate Harrison - the Boot Camp

It's New Year and three desperate women begin the toughest week of their lives . . .

No booze, no carbs, no men, no excuses.Steph invents puddings for a living - now the only part of her body she
doesn't hate is her wrists. Will she prove to herself - and her ex -
that she can change?

TV present
Darcy is living the dream - yet haunted by nightmares of a single night
where she made the wrong choice. Can she let go of the past? Mum of three Vicki is under doctor's orders to lose weight - but it's not the only burden she's carrying.Three women, seven days... one last chance to change their lives for good.

After the new year excesses, although I have to admit I was pretty restrained this year, I'm sure that many of us could use a bit of a kick up the rear end to get ourselves off the couch to work off those extra calories. Although I don't think I would be brave enough to sign up for the Boot Camp as the three main characters in the book, Steph, Darcy and Vicki, do.

They each have their own reasons for being there, and couldn't be more different from each other if they tried, but in each other they find a kindred spirit to make the whole experience a lot more bearable.

Steph has decided that she needs the services of the boot camp to help her
lose weight to show her ex, Steve, what he's missing out on since he dumped her...

When Vicki's sister enter her into a competition, as she thought Vicki deserved some pampering, I don't think she realised that this was not a spa so pampering is the last thing that Vicki will be getting during her six days at the camp.

Whereas Darcy was signed up for this by her agent to whip her into shape to re-launch her career and show TV companies that she can compete with the younger presenters...

As for the two instructors, as they are both ex-army, there is no way that these ladies will get off lightly. Staff Pepper and Staff Ryan stand for no nonsense and really put the ladies through the most intense exercise regimes that they could ever have imagined, it will be a miracle if they survive the six days in one piece...

I'd previously read all of The Secret Shopper books but the Boot Camp is the first standalone book by Kate Harrison that I'd read. It's a story full of really interesting characters, not just Steph, Vicki and Darcy, and I'm sure that there is one that could be you... certainly for me I could certainly relate to Steph as she's the one the most like me!

I have to confess the more I read of this book the more I was
mightily relieved that I was just reading about the exercises and not
doing them myself as they sounded painful! The descriptions were so
realistic and it was only after reading the acknowledgements at the back
that I discovered that Ms Harrison had attended a boot camp herself...
that's certainly taking research to the absolute extreme.

Overall this is a really enjoyable book to read and it's almost, I did say almost, made me think about doing something like this myself to kick start my new year resolution of losing weight and getting fitter.

I'd like to thank Sophie at Orion for sending me a copy of this book to review.